Nov
15
(Dog) Food for Thought
Written by S. Beaumont and filed under Editorial
I remember watching an episode of 20/20 in December of last year that explored the charitable contributions of several wealthy individuals such as Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Ted Turner and SAS founder Jim Goodnight, among others. In the episode, host John Stossel cited Goodnight’s monetary worth, acknowledged the millions of dollars he had donated to various efforts, and went on to point out that despite these contributions he was not on the list of most generous philanthropists. He continued with the interpretively antagonistic question, “Shouldn’t you give more?” Goodnight’s response: “I think I give enough.”
I thought back to this interview when reading about the ground breaking of the new 115,000 square foot animal hospital to be built off of Hillsborough Street. The animal hospital will be funded in part by a $20 million dollar private contribution from the R.B. Terry Jr. Charitable Foundation.
I don’t think it was just to question Goodnight’s generosity nor that of the Terry Foundation, but I’ll admit that I caught myself selfishly considering other ways that money could be spent–mainly on humans. So, in Stossel-esque fashion I ask: “Is a contribution of that size best served on a hospital that will treat animals?”
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9 Responses to “(Dog) Food for Thought”
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With existing pet emergency rooms being flooded by illegal, insurance-less mexican immigrant pets, its critical that new facilities come online ASAP to support our local pets.
The vet school hospital is actually 115,000 s.f. and should propel NCSU into the top 5 vet schools in the nation.
However the bum down the street from me keeps telling me that he is hungry….
Footage corrected - thanks.
if a person cannot afford a dog, then they should not own a dog….take a look at our shelters….always full. the upkeep of a dog is very expensive, vet visits, vaccines, flea and heartworm prevention, food.
I also watched that 20/20 episode and wondered how much stossel or the network he works for donated to charities???
what about golden corral for packing on the pounds??
The NCSU Vet School is already one of the top five in the country - currently number four, I believe.
I realize this post was made to stir up some conversation, but I it seems like a somewhat random stab at those of us that love animals and think of them as more then just something you buy at a pet store. To many people animals are an important part of their family and they want to provide the best quality of life for their animals. This means having vets that are well equipped and the facilities to perform the advanced procedures needed to care for those animals. Obviously the well-being of animals is very important to the R.B. Terry Jr. Charitable Foundation and so the new hospital is where they chose to donate their money. Having a animal hospital of this quality in the area will mean that the most advanced procedures in veterinary medicine can be performed right here in Raleigh – something you will surely appreciate should you ever have an animal get sick with some strange disease or be in an accident that requires advanced work to heal.
Even if you look beyond what this means for animal care here in Raleigh, there is also a tremendous economic impact to having a hospital like this in the area. The Vet school already attracts top specialist in everything from cardiology to animal prosthesis from all over the world. Having doctors of this caliber means more quality students come to the vet school, more high quality staff come here, etc and they all spend their money in Raleigh. It’s good for the local economy.
Lastly, I don’t really see how anyone can question how someone else’s charitable contribution is being used. Do you yourself give money to be used for “humans”? Is it right for someone to judge how you spend your money and who (and if) you contribute to? It could be said that you shouldn’t spend your money on CDs or books or coffee, but should instead be helping humans by going out and buying lunch for the homeless guy.
Sammie:
I appreciate you taking the time to add your thoughts. I feel like they were written in opposition to the post, but I agree with you–as I did before writing the post.
That said, I don’t really feel like I took a stab at anyone. My intention was to pose a question and not present a stance. I also believe that I was transparent in describing my thoughts of how the money should be spent as “selfish.”
Truth be told, I really struggled with the wording in the post because it was important to me that I didn’t write anything I didn’t believe just to create controversy.
Thanks for the reply, and it seems my tone was somewhat misdirected, as I didn’t fully understand your stance and the intent of posing the question. I won’t deny that I was on the defensive, but hopefully that doesn’t take too much away from the viewpoint presented (reactionary comments aside).
Several thoughts in response to this post and comments:
For me, my relationship with pets–especially dogs– gives me much more joy than my dealings with many people. They take much less work and are so much easier to communicate with. Granted the things they communicate about are more limited: food, water, “bathroom” needs, small animal chasing, pain, adherence to a routine, someone’s in the front yard(mostly the letter carrier), various assorted likes and dislikes….
Several studies have shown that people with pets live longer.
Another thing about improved health care for animals(again especially dogs) is that it has shown ways to improve treatments for people. Seems like every 6 months or so there will be a story on the news about a treatment that’s been proven effective in dogs being found to be helpful in humans.
As far as positive economic impact, the vet school also brings patients and their caregivers from a multi-state area. I’ve talked to several people who have traveled here to take their pets to the vet school and have to stay for days during treatment.
As far as the original post goes, that point of view is out there among many people and not just about animal hospitals but anything that is considered non-vital to human bodily functions like food and shelter. It’s something worthy of taking a moment to think about. This sort of discussion is one of the things that makes people worth bothering with.